Audio-visual entertainment systems wherein an audio signal is combined with illumination control signal to simultaneously control audio and lighting equipment are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,496 discloses a system and method wherein audio and/or video signals are combined with an illumination control signal that is subsequently decoded into constituent signals that are delivered to an entertainment device such as, for example, a video- and/or audio-capable device, and to a controllable illumination source such as, for example, a light-emitting diode (LED) system whose controller dynamically varies the color and intensity of the LEDs in response to the illumination control signal.
Those with knowledge of the field will recognize U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,496 as being related to much earlier “light organs,” An early example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,946,026, wherein the intensity of colored lights was determined by mechanical devices responsive to sounds of different frequencies. A later example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,121, employed electrical resonant circuits to respond to low, medium and high audio frequencies by flashing colored lights.
What these and other examples of prior art do not consider, however, is why humans tend to associate certain colors and dynamic color patterns with different genres of music and speech styles. Without such an understanding, the illumination control signal must be either generated in advance as an artistic expression by a human operator and synchronized with the playback of the audio signal, or by simply responding to different frequency ranges within the audio signal as it is received.
Recent research suggests, however, an explanation for our tendency and preference to associate certain colors and dynamic color patterns (especially light sources with constantly changing colors and intensities) with different genres of music and speech styles: synesthesia.
Synesthesia is a neurological condition wherein the stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway results in the person experiencing automatic and involuntary responses from a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Persons with this neurological condition are referred to as “synesthetes.”
Somewhat surprisingly, many synesthetes do not consider their condition as a handicap, and even as a gift. Synesthetes have reported that they have used their abilities as an aid to memorization, mental arithmetic, and complex creative activities such as producing visual art, music, and theater.
Synesthesia is also surprisingly common. In a recent study (Fassridge et al. 2017) of neurotypical adult participants, 22 percent of subjects reported that they heard faint sounds accompanying silent visual flashes, an example of visual-auditory synthesia. This suggests that synesthesia is not a rare and abnormal condition, but rather a matter of degree. In a much earlier study (Karwoski et al. 1938) of 274 adult participants, 60 percent exhibited “chromesthesia,” which is the association of musical passages with various colors.
A recent survey (Suslick 2012) noted that many scientists, technologists, and inventors have developed artificial forms of synesthesia as a means of helping people sense their environments. As one example, the BrainPort V100 oral electronic vision aid, manufactured by Wicab, Inc. of Middleton, Wis., is a battery-operated device that includes a digital camera mounted on a pair of glasses and a small, flat intra-oral device containing a series of electrodes that the user holds against their tongue (U.S. Pat. No. 8,849,407). Software converts the image captured by the camera into electrical signals that as perceived as vibrations or tingling on the user's tongue. With training and experience, the user learns to interpret the signals to interpret the location, position, size, and shape of objects, and to determine if the objects are stationary or moving.
Another recent study (Colizoli et al. 2012) demonstrated that non-synesthetes are capable of acquiring synesthetic behavioral traits in adulthood through training. This reinforces the view that synesthesia is not a rare neurological aberration, but an inherent capability that can be learned through practice.
It is therefore evident that music aficionados may better appreciate music that they are listening to if it is accompanied by a dynamic display of visual colors and patterns that chromesthesic synesthetes may experience when listening to the same music. In accordance with the study of Colizoli et al. (2012), it is further evident that music aficionados may be able to learn chromesthesic responses to music passages through practice, to the extent where they may consciously experience visual colors and patterns in response to music without external visual stimuli.
It is further evident from the aforementioned studies that individual listeners may experience different color associations when listening to passages of music. These preferences may be consciously expressed, or they may be subconsciously experienced. There is therefore a need for a system and method wherein music passages and speech patterns are automatically mapped into a visual display of colors and patterns, and wherein the system learns the listener's preferences and adapts its auditory-to-visual mapping accordingly.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.